1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ferrule and an optical-fiber-attached ferrule in which a locating pin protruding from one surface thereof and an optical-path changing recess are formed at a plate-shaped transparent ferrule main body made of plastic which is to be attached to a front end of an optical fiber.
2. Background Art
As a ferrule to be attached to a front end of an optical fiber, a structure is known in which a pair of locating pins protruding from one surface thereof and an optical-path changing recess are formed at a plate-shaped transparent ferrule main body made of plastic (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-121973).
The ferrule is suitably used for optically splicing an optical fiber disposed along a circuit board, to an optical device serving as a light-emitting element or a light receiving element, for example, which are packaged into the circuit board, in an optical axis which is a direction perpendicular to the circuit board; and such ferrule is rapidly and widely diffused in recent years.
In the ferrule, the locating pins are fitted into the locating pin holes of the receiving member into which the optical device is packaged (for example, the above-described circuit board), the joint surface from which the locating pins of the ferrule main body protrude is connected to a ferrule-receiving surface of the receiving member, the joint surface is disposed so as to face the optical device, and the ferrule is thereby attached to the receiving member.
The optical path optically splicing the optical fiber to the optical device passes through the ferrule main body of the ferrule.
The optical path is bent and formed inside the ferrule main body of the ferrule by the optical-path changing recess.
However, in the above-described ferrule, the locating pin tends to be formed obliquely to the direction perpendicular to the joint surface of the ferrule main body.
The degree of forming precision of the locating pin affects the positioning accuracy relative to the optical device of the ferrule and results in an increase in loss.
However, until now, there is not a preferred technique of improving the inclination of the locating pin with respect to the direction perpendicular to the joint surface of the ferrule main body as a practical matter.